Memphis Grizzlies vs Portland Trailblazers Picks and Preview

Both the Grizzlies and Blazers will make the playoffs, but what is unsure is what seed they will be. Both would like to move up to avoid playing the defending champion Lakers or red-hot Spurs in the opening round of the playoffs. However, with the Lakers struggling they may fall to the 3rd seed, but with the Grizzlies in the 8th spot they want to avoid San Antonio, who have won 4 straight.

In their last games the Blazers beat the Lakers 93-86 on Friday night and the Grizzlies looked impressive in beating the New Orleans Hornets 111-89 on Saturday.

This season the Grizzlies have been one of the best betting teams in the NBA at 51-28-1 ATS and the Blazers have been decent at 42-35-3 ATS.

These teams have split the 2 games they have played this season.

This season the Blazers are 29-11 at home and the Grizzlies are 16-23 on the road. Both teams are hot, as Portland has won 2 in a row and is 7-3 in their last 10 games and Memphis has also won 2 straight and is 8-2 in their last 10 games.

Portland is playing solid defense, as in 4 of their last 5 games they have held opponents under 100 points. They have to win with their D, which ranks 6th in the league in opponents’ points allowed, as their offense only ranks 23rd in the league in scoring. Also, in the 5-game span the only game they lost is the one they allowed their opponent to crack the 100-point barrier.

Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge (21.8 ppg 8.7 rpg) is key in this game, as he not only has to score, but hit the boards as well. This is especially the case if Portland’s leading rebounder Marcus Camby (10.3 rpg) can’t go, as he is day to day with a neck injury and has not played in 2 games in a row.

The Grizzlies’ D has to key on Aldridge and Blazers swingman Gerald Wallace (15.7 ppg), who has been playing well and in his last 2 games has combined to score 48 points and hit 6 of 12 of his 3-pointers.

Memphis PF Zach Randolph (20.1 ppg 12.3 rpg) has stepped up his play since the Griz lost Rudy Gay and the Blazers cannot allow him to have a big game in the paint. Portland has to play all-around D, as the Grizzlies have good inside scoring with Randolph and C Marc Gasol (11.7 ppg) and outside scoring with Mike Conley (13.8 ppg) and O.J. Mayo (11.2 ppg).

Conley and the Grizzlies have to hold onto the rock, as the Blazers are forcing an average of 15.7 turnovers per game and if Memphis is sloppy with the ball in this game they will get killed.

In some other betting trends for this important Western Conference match up:

Memphis is 10-3 ATS in their last 13 road games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games against teams with a home winning percentage of greater than 60%, and has an Under record of 5-1 in their last 6 games.

Portland is 8-2 ATS in their last 10 home games and has an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.

Memphis is 3-1-1 in their last 5 games against Portland and in the last 5 games between these 2 teams the total has gone Over 4 times.